HOPKINS – The home baskets were just not kind to the Hopkins girls basketball team Tuesday night when the Vikings played host to Wayland. The Wildcats, however, had no problem with taking home the 63-15 win.

“This was a much needed win for us,” said Wayland coach Marty Howard. “We lost double overtime to Rockford on a last second shot. It was a game that we kind of gave away, not that Rockford isn’t a good team. We missed some free throws and a couple layups, so we needed to come out and have a really good defensive presence, score some points.”

Hopkins kept it close defensively in the first quarter until Presley Hudson hit three lay-ups in a row taking Wayland to a 10-2 lead. Hudson went on to score 12 in the game with 10 in the first half. Haley Obetts ended with 10, and Allison Getty and Caroline Miller scored eight. The Wildcats led 17-6 after the first quarter and 34-13 at the half. They went on to take the third 53-13.

“I thought we did extremely well on the half court end of the floor,” said Howard. “We put some great ball pressure on them, but I don’t think they were able to handle that. We’re not as big as last year, so that pressure defense, that full-court pressure defense, even more than we have done in the past, is more important to our success this year.”

For Hopkins, Callie Brower hit the first shot of the night, and then Megan Snoeyink and Claire Schwartz both scored in the first quarter. Cheryl DeJager, Schwartz and Brower also made baskets in the second quarter. Katie Stein put away a foul shot for the team’s only score in the third, followed by a foul shot from Ellen Bregg in the fourth.

“It’s my first year here and we are trying to build a program,” said Hopkins coach David Moncada. “We just have to see what we have here at this school. We have athletic kids. They have a lot of heart. They don’t quit. They really want to learn.”

Wayland is now 1-1, while Hopkins is currently 1-2.

“We’re trying to build some confidence, to believe in each other,” said Moncada. “We want them to believe in family and to trust each other to be where they are supposed to be. That is going to take some time. I know that. We just can’t get frustrated.”